Multiunit web press



Jan. 28, 1958 w. R. SPILLER ETAL MULTIUNIT WEB PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet lFiled Sept. 30, 1953 I GENE YS @wir Jan. 285 1958 W, R, SPLLER TAL2,821,131

MULTIUNIT WEB PRESS Filed sept. so. 1953 s sheets-sheet 2 "Oef f, I mmf;

ATTO/EW K5 Jan. 28, 1958 W. R. SAPILLER ETL MULTIUNIT WEB PRESS 5sheets-,sheet 3 Filed Sept. 30.. 1953 United States Patent() MULTIUNTWEB PRESS William R. Spiller, Shaker Heights, and Thomas H. Johnson,Peninsula, Ohio, assignors to Harris-Seybold Company, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Delaware Application September 30, 1953, Serial No.383,202

20 Claims. (Cl. 101-137) This invention relates to improvements inmultiunit web presses and has to do more especially with pairs of up anddown printing units, each pair having a common impression cylinder, in apress in which the web is fed in a loop, the outward run of whichtravels over one side of two impression cylinders spaced apart and thereturn run of which travels over `other side of said impressioncylinders, the press being Acapable of printing one side of a web infour or tive colors or perfecting it in ytwo colors. The drawings showthe invention applied to an offset press.

In a multiunit rotary offset press where the web is caused to passbetween blanket and impression cylinders tangent to both cylinders atthe line of print, the web tends to `adhere to the blanket cylinderbeyond the print line with varying degrees of tenacity, depending uponthe amount of image ink on the blanket. Where there is little or no ink,tendency for the web to adhere to the blanket is light or nil. Where theink is heavy the adhesion is strong and the variation in tendency toadhere causes the rapidly traveling web to utter or vibrate.

This fluttering could be overcome by so placing a small guide rollerjust beyond the line of print that the web would necessarily hug theimpression cylinder through a small angle. However, such a roller wouldbear against the printed side of the web and the image would tend to betransferred to the small roller which would then oset on succeedingportions of the web.

The present invention has to do with an arrangement of cylinders andunits such that a similar effect is obtained without guide rollersbearing on the printed side of the web, the arrangement being such thatthe web leaves the impression cylinder a short distance beyond theprinting line and travels in la plane at a small angle to that of theweb as it passes through the printing line. The minimum angle foraccomplishing the purpose is approximately, but an angle of the order ofis preferred. We have found that by a special arrangement of thecylinders of the units and of the units with respect to each other, thedesired wrap may be eifected Without sacrificing standardization of theunits to any considerable degree, and the arrangement herein disclosedfor that purpose constitutes an important feature of our invention.

One of the objects `of the invention therefore is the arrangement ofcylinders and units and in some instances other'web guiding means toeliminate uttering of the web.

Another object is the provision of units or groups of units havingspecial cylinder arrangement and special disposition with Arespect toeach other such that the foregoing object may be accomplished withoutsacrificing anything substantial in the way of uniformity of units orgroups of units.

Another object is the provision of a printing press of the characterrdescribed in which are employed pairs of up and down units adapted toprint on a looped web.

A further object is the provision in a press of the character stated oftwo upper and two lower printing units with the plate and blanketcylinders of each unit similarly disposed in vthe unit, the upper unitsbeing inverted with respect to the lower units and both sets of unitsbeing dis-` posed in operative relation with two spaced parallelirnpression cylinders.

Another object is the provision of frame members built in sectionsadapted to be assembled readily to carry a complete press of four orfive units, wherein an elongated frame section carrying two impressioncylinders is supported upon two lower frame sections and the two upperframe sections are supported upon the elongated section, and in whicheach of the upper and lower frame sections has plate and blanketcylinders disposed therein in the same relation to each other.

Still another object is the provision of inking means for an additionalor fth printing unit having a frame in the form of a carriage which maybe moved readily toward and away from that unit in order to facilitatework upon the unit or upon the inking means, and including latchingmeans for drawing the inker frame into close contact with the framesupporting the fth unit, :and locking it in that position.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as we proceed with thedescription of those embodiments of the invention which, for thepurposes of the present application, we have illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational diagrammatic view illustrating `a ve unitpress builtin accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental view illustrating on a larger scale a portion ofthe press shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental elevational view, also on a larger scale, showingthe movable inker for the additional or fth printing unit and thelatching means for holding it in operative position;

Fig. 4 is a vertical detail sectional view taken substantially on theline 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal detail sectional view taken substantially on theline 5 5 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmental diagrammatic view illustrating means for buildingthe press as a two color perfecting press.

In Fig. l of the drawing there is shown a mounting for three papersupply rolls having an axis 10 about which the rolls are adapted to beswung bodily when the supply on one roll is exhausted and the mountingis to be turned through an 'angle of 120 in order that the web may betaken thereafter from a new roll. In a housing 11 carried upon the rollsupporting frame 13 there is provided a vari-y able speed differentialdrive for belts 14 which engage and drive the supply roll 15 then inoperative position. 16 represents the web taken from roll 15 anddirected over guide rollers 17, 18 and 19 and down to the base of themachine where it is directed over other guide rollers 20 and then upwardand between feeding rollers 21, 22.

The frame of the press is constructed in a novel manner. It comprisestwo lower frame sections 23 and 24 supported upon the base 25 of themachine intermediate elongated section 26 preferably horizontallydisposed, and two upper sections 27 and 2S. Each of the upper and lowerframe sections may be of the same front to rear dimension but asillustrated herein the lower sections 23 and 24 preferably have agreater vertical dimension than the upper sections 27 and 28.

Intermediate section 26 has journaled therein two irnpression cylinders,that is a rst impression cylinder 29 and a second impression cylinder30, these cylinders being parallel and arranged to be driven by suitablemeans in the same direction and at the same speed. This section 26carries a guide roller 31 over which the entering web travels and aguide roller 32 over which the web is guided as it leaves the press. Theweb is fed in a loop over the impression cylinders. As shown herein ittravels inwardly Patented Jan. 28, 19,58.,

below the two impression cylinders, upwardly around impression cylinder30 and backwardly over the two impression cylinders. However we do notwish to be limited to this direction of travel as travel in the reversedirection could b e employed if certain appropriate changes in theprinting units were made. While the upper and lower runs ofthe loopcould be tangent with theV two impression cylinders, we prefer to bowthese two runs outwardly to a small extent, as by means of guide rollers34 and 35. Such bowing means contacting the unprinted surface of the webAis beneficial as it steadies the web in the rather long runs betweenthe two cylinders.

rI wo lower and two upper printing units are carried by the lower andupper frame sections 23, 24 and 27, 28 respectively. They each compriseprinting cylinders and inliing mechanism. As illustrated herein eachunit comprises a plate cylinder 37 and a blanket cylinder 3S. The planejoining the axes of each pair of cylinders, marked P- in the drawings,is disposed at a given uniform angle with the vertical and the axis A ofeach blanket cylinder is disposed in the corresponding frame section atthe same point, considered with respect to the forward side of the frameand the side contacting the intermediate frame section 26. In otherwords before the upper frame sections are inverted, all axes A of thecorresponding cylinder bearings, not shown, occupy identical positionsin their respective frame sections relative to the top and forward edgesof the same.

Each printing unit comprises a series of identical inkrollers 40similarly arranged with respect to each of the plate cylinders 37 and aseries of dampem'ng rollers 41 also similarly arranged with respect toeach other and the plate cylinder 37. The ink fountain 42 and the waterfountain 43 of the upper units are inverted however with respect to thesame parts in the lower units since they must be arranged to holduncovered supplies of liquid. The inking and dampening means of theprinting units contained in frame sections 23 and 28 are not shown inthe drawings, but it is to be understood that they are identical withthe inking and dampening means of the units in frame sections 24 and 27.All of these printing units are therefore interchangeable except thatthe ink and water fountains must be disposed right side up in the upperframe sections.

An additional or fifth printing unit may be provided in the event thatthe printing of a fth color is required. To this end plate and blanket"cylinders 45 and 46 are journaled in the intermediate frame section 26.A set of dampening rollers 47 and a water fountain 48 are also mountedin this frame section. The cylinders 45 and 46 may be thrown oli? fromoperative relation with impression cylinder 30 by any conventional meanswhen the printing of a fifth color is not required.

In order that the parts of this fth unit may be conveniently serviced wemount most of the inking mechan ism 49 for the unit on a separate frameor carriage 50 which may be shifted from the full to the dotted lineposition 50' of Fig. 1 or vice versa. Form rollers 51 are journaled inthe frame section 26, but the other form rollers 2 and the various otherparts of the nking mechanism are mounted on the carriage 50.

At each side the machine frame comprises a track member 54, Fig. 3,which may rest at one end on frame Section 26. and be, Secured te framesection 27 byscrews 5 5... These track members are supported at theiroppo. sites ends on the paper roll supporting frame 13 as indicated at56 in Fig. 1. Each of these track members is provided with an open sidedgroove 57. The carriage SQ is provided at oppositey sides with a seriesof studs 58 'upon whieh are, rotatably'mounted wheelsl or rollers 59-that run in the grooves 5,7-, The carriage is therefore movable freelybetween its respective positions illustrated id ljllg,l 1 to place theform rollers 52 into or out of; opcra! .G ,Ielation with the platecylinder 45. In order to fa ilitate, movement Yracks 60 are attached tothe top of ..S Qilliage, and, pinions 6'1 keyed to a cross shaft- 62-mesh with these racks. A suitable operating crank, not shown, is securedto one end of shaft 62 in order that an operator may turn the Shaft ineither direction to traverse the carriage toward or away from frame 26.

Frame section 26 and carriage 50 have interfitting parts, best seen inFig. 5, for guiding said carriage into correct position with respect toframe section 26. F or this purpose the right hand end of frame section26 near the top and bottom thereof has vertical portions which areprovided with inwardly tapered grooves 64, and the carringe 50 hascomplemental wedge surfaces 65. Between these intertting parts the framesection 26 has a beveled nose 67 which cooperates with a beveled recess68 in carriage 50. Nose 67 at the upper and lower ends thereof hasshoulders 69 which are. adapted to tit rather snugly the upper and lowersides of recess 68. As will be obvious the interfitting wedges andgrooves 64, 65 guide the carriage into correct position transversely,the openl faced grooves 57 permitting whatever slight movement relativeto the frame is necessary to compensate f or such action. The nose 67and recess 68 interfit for registering the carriage in a verticaldirection relative to the frame section 26, and the grooves 57 are madeof a height to leave a clearance 70 for this purpose, the clearancebeing some what exaggerated in Fig. 4 of the drawing.

Means are provided for drawing the carriage into final tight engagementwith the frame section 26, and to this end we employ eccentric latchesoperated by crank handies 71. The shaft to which each handle is attachedhas two concentric portions 72 and 73 which are journaled in the framesection 26 and an eccentric portion 74. The latch hook 75 is mounted onthis eccentric porti-on. lu the carriage Si? Opposite the shafts of eachof the latch hooks there is a rotatable pin 76, the central portion 77of which is slightly eccentric about the axis of the pin. This pin maybe turned by means of a wrench applied to a squared head at one end ofthe pin and, may be locked in adjusted position by means of small studs78 having washers adapted to bear upon, a collar 79 xed to the stud. Thelatch hook 75' has a latching recess adapted to receive the eccentricpart 77 Eof the, pin. One of the latching d evices is shown near the.bottom of Fig. 3 inthe unlatched position such as it would occupy whenthe carriage was withdrawn out of engagement with the frame section 26.When the handle 71 is thrown upwardly to the dotted line position thelatch 75 will swing up to the dotted line position where the hook willbe horizontal and will receive the pin 77 with clearance Now when thehandle 71 is thrownV over counterclockwise and to a final position fromthe full line position, the eccentric 74 on the handle willl draw thelatch hook over into tight lockingy position. The degree of pull may bevaried the necessary amount to assure tight engagement; by rotatablyadjusting the pin 76. rIfhe locked position of thelatchis illustratednear the. top of Fig. 3. 'I 'herev are two handles 7.1, both on thesarne side of the machine. Qn the opposite side of the machine the partsarel duplicated except for the crank handles, and the shafts 72, 73, onone side are connected with those on the other by a hollow transverseVrod 79, Fig. 5, secured at eachv end to the aligned shafts by pins 80.

Referring n ow to. Eig. 2 itr will be observed that the plane throughthe axes of' theA plateI and blanket cylinders of each printing unit isdisposed at an angle approximately of 15 tothe, vertical, and thaty theplanes of the first and third units pass through the. axes of thecorresponding impression cylinders, this angle` being selected by way ofillustration and; notin a limiting sense.

If the runs of the loop'between the impression cylinders 29 and 3) weretangent to those cylinders this would mean that the, wrap of the webbetween the line ofvprint of the first and third units andthe pointswhere the web leaves the corresponding impression cylinder would be 15However when the upper andV lower runs of the webl are bowed outwardlyas herein` illustrated the web leaves the impression cylinder of theseunits slightly before it reaches the vertical plane through theimpression cylinders. Consequently the wrap of the web in the iirst andthird units is slightly less than 15.

There are manufacturing advantages in having all of the planes P of thevarious units disposed at the same angle to the vertical, but so far asdetermining the wrap of the web beyond the print line, the angle of theplanes P is important only where those planes pass through the axis ofthe corresponding impression cylinder as they do in the rst and thirdunits. in all cases the position of the blanket cylinder determines thedegree yof wrap.

If the upper and lower runs of the loop were tangent with the twoimpression cylinders the blanket cylinders of the second and fourthunits could meet the corresponding impression cylinders where verticalplanes through the impression cylinders intersected those cylinders.Such an arrangement, although not illustrated, is to be consideredwithin the scope of the invention. But with the bowing of the two runsof the loop the web would then contact the blanket cylinder slightlyahead of the line of print, which would be detrimental to the printing.Consequently, the frame sections 26 and 2S are advanced with respect tothe direction of web travel at least sufficiently to bring the line ofprint into a plane through the impression cylinder at right angles tothe adjacent portion of the web, these planes being marked 85 and 86 inFig. 2. The web of course has ample wrap around cylinder 3i) when itleaves the line of print of the second unit. ln order to have suicientwrap around cylinder Z9 when it leaves the fourth unit the web isdirected downwardly at a considerable angle.

The impression cylinders 29 and 3531 are spaced apart horizontally asufficient distance to permit the frame sections 23, 24 and the framesections 27 and 2S to be spaced apart far enough to provide room foroperators to work on the different printing units. Flatforms 87 to 93inclusive are disposed in convenient positions for this purpose.

Referring now to the modification shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, it iswithin the purview of the invention to build a press without the fthprinting unit for perfecting in two colors. This is done by directingthe web after its second printing along a path 95 providing a wrap of atleast 10 around cylinder Sil, to a heater for drying the ink imagethereon and to turning bars for inverting the web so that the printedsurface is down. Since means for accomplishing these results are wellknown in the art it is not deemed necessary to illustrate them. Afterdrying and inverting the web it is returned along the path 96 andcarried beneath a guide roller 97 so positioned that the portion 98 ofthe web shall be tangent to impression cylinder 39 and hence contactthat cylinder before it reaches the line of print. In other respects theconstruction and operation are like that of the previously describedform.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In a web feed rotary printing press, rst and second impressioncylinders of the same size arranged to rotate in the same direction andwith their axes parallel and in a common plane, the axis of said rstimpression cylinder lyingin a rst plane perpendicular to said commonplane, the axis of said second impression cylinder lying in a secondplane perpendicular to said common plane, means for feeding a web ofprint receiving material in a loop outwardly along one side of saidimpression cylinders and backwardly along the other side thereof, andfirst, second, third and fourth printing cylinders arranged for printingupon said web in that order, said first and fourth printing cylindersbeing arranged in printing relation with said first impression cylinderand with the axis of said first printing cylinder on that side of saidrst perpendicular plane remote from said second impression cylinder,means for causing the web to leave said fourth printing cylinder beforeit leaves said first impression cylinder, said second and third printingcylinders being arranged in printing relation with said secondimpression cylinder and with the axis of said third printing cylinder onthat side of said second perpendicular plane remote from said iirstimpression cylinder, whereby the web is caused to leave each printingcylinder before it leaves the corresponding impression cylinder, therebyminimizing the tendency of the web to utter during printing.

2. Mechanism as claimed in claim l, wherein the plane through the axesof said iirst impression cylinder and said first printing cylinder andthe plane through the axes of said third printing cylinder and saidsecond impression cylinder each makes an angle at least of the order often degrees with the corresponding saidperpendicular plane.

3. Mechanism as claimed in claim l, characterized in that the outgoingrun of the web on the near side of said first perpendicular plane isinclined relative to said common plane and contacts the first impressioncylinder before reaching the line of print between that cylinder andsaid first printing cylinder.

4. Mechanism as defined in claim l, characterized in that the returningrun of the web on the forward side of said second perpendicular planeconsidered with respect to the direction of web travel is approximatelyparallel to said common plane and the line of print between said secondimpression cylinder and said third printing cylinder is angularlydisposed rearwardly of said second perpendicular plane.

5. Mechanism as claimed in claim l, comprising means interposed betweensaid two impression cylinders for separating the runs of the loop by adistance greater than the diameter of said impression cylinders, andwherein the wrap of the web about said impression cylinders beyond theline of print of said iirst and third printing cylinders extends throughan angle of at least ten degrees.

6. In a web feed rotary printing press, first and second impressioncylinders of the same size arranged to rotate in the same direction andwith their axes parallel and in K a common plane, means for feeding aweb of print receiving material in a loop outwardly along one side ofsaid impression cylinders and backwardly along the other side thereof, ahorizontally elongated frame section in which said impression cylindersare mounted, two separable lower frame sections independent of theelongated section, upon which said elongated section is supported,printing cylinders and inking means carried by said lower frame sectionsin printing relation with the respective impression cylinders, twoseparable upper vertical frame sections independent of said elongatedsection and supported thereon, and printing cylinders and inking meanscarried by said upper frame sections in printing relation with therespective impression cylinders, said lower and upper frame sectionsbeing spaced apart horizontally a suticient distance to provide accessto the printing cylinders and inking means by an operator from betweenthe frame sections.

7. A web feed rotary printing press as defined in claim 6, comprising anadditional printing cylinder mounted in said elongated frame sectionbeyond the impression cylinder at the closed end of the loop, saidadditional printing cylinder being disposed in printing relation withsaid last named impression cylinder.

8. A web feed rotary printing press as defined in claim 6, comprising anadditional printing cylinder mounted in said elongated frame sectionbeyond the impression cylinder at the closed end of the loop, said 19.In a web feed rotary printing press, rst and second impression cylindersarranged to rotate in the same direction and having parallel axes, meansfor feeding a web of print receiving material in a loop along one sideof said impression cylinders and backwardly along the other sidethereof, the path of said web being such that at least a small amount ofWrap of said web around said impression cylinders is obtained whereverthe web contacts the cylinders, iirst and fourth printing cylinderscooperating with the first impression cylinder, and second and thirdprinting cylinders cooperating with said second impression cylinder, allof said printing cylinders being so disposed that the printing linebetween each printing cylinder and its corresponding impression cylinderis located between the points of tangency of the web with respect to theimpression cylinder as the web approaches and leaves the printing line,the degree of wrap between the printing line and the point of tangencywhere the web leaves the impression cylinder being sufficient to causesaid web to leave said printing cylinder before it leaves saidimpression cylinder, thereby minimizing iiuttering of the web duringprinting.

20. In a web feed rotary printing press, rst and second impressioncylinders of the same size arranged to rotate in the same direction andwith their axes parallel and in a common plane, the axis of said firstimpression cylinder lying in a lirst plane at right angles to saidcommon plane, the axis of said second impression cylinder lying in asecond plane at right angles to said common plane, means for feeding aweb of print receiving ma- 30 portions of the web entering and leavingthe loop being inclined toward each other, rst and fourth printingcylinders cooperating with the iirst impression cylinder, and second andthird printing cylinders cooperating with said second impressioncylinder, said rst and fourth printing cylinders being disposed on theside of said first right angle plane remote from said second impressioncylinder, said second and third printing cylinders being disposed on theside of said second right angle plane remote from said iirst impressioncylinder, and means for causing the web to leave said fourth printingcylinder before it leaves said first impression cylinder, whereby theline of print between each printing cylinder and its impression cylinderis reached in advance of the line at which the web leaves the impressioncylinder, thereby minimizing the tendency of the web to iiutter duringprinting.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.13,051 Hayes Dec. 7, 1909 1,855,525 MacArthur Apr. 26, 1932 2,004,801Sheppard June 11, 1935 2,131,489 Upham Sept. 27, 1938 2,146,586 MeiselFeb. 7, 1939 2,160,527 Tomberg May 30, 1939 2,329,454 Burroughs Sept.14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 278,721 Germany Oct. 3, 1914 415,502 GreatBritain Aug. 30, 1934

